In a shocking case of animal cruelty, a Hanuman langur, or grey langur, was shot using an airgun by unidentified people in Raigad three days ago. An official from the Raigad Forest Department got the langur to Mumbai, to the clinic of Dr Deepa Katyal in Mulund, for treatment, but due to injuries, he succumbed to cardiac failure. With such extreme cases of animal cruelty happening on a regular basis, animal welfare activists think that the concerned people should be apprehended and punished. Talking to mid-day, Dr Katyal said, "On Makar Sankranti, we were busy dealing with the continuous flow of birds injured with the glass manja, but that day, we had to deal with an even worse example of human torture. An adult langur was brought in suffering from paraplegia and struggling to breathe."

In order to understand the nature of the injuries, an X-ray was done and the results of the test shocked everyone as there were three air gun bullets in the body. "The X-ray showed three air bullets inside the langur's body, two near the pelvis and one close to the right shoulder, missing a major blood vessel. The primate also showed dilated gas loops, indicating some sort of obstruction. One can only imagine the pain and discomfort he had gone through. Unfortunately, after all our efforts to revive his dropping blood pressure and heart rate due to multiple medical issues, a CPR got his heartbeat back, only to sink later into cardiac failure. This story reflects the need for prompt investigation for such crime and cruelty to our wildlife," said Katyal.